A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to articles for use by individuals in conjunction with personal grooming and beautification tasks. More particularly, the invention relates to a versatile combination face mirror and tote basket for carrying cosmetic articles and implements.
B. Description of Background Art
Most personal grooming and beautification tasks such as combing or brushing one""s hair, applying make-up, eyeliner or eyeshadow and the like requires viewing one""s face in a mirror. When such tasks are performed in a person""s bathroom or bedroom, there are usually available wall mounted mirrors which are conveniently useable for such grooming or beautification tasks. Moreover, there is usually space available in drawers or cabinets at such locations, for storing various cosmetic articles such as hair brushes and combs, lipstick, eye brushes, powder puffs, and cosmetic preparations of various sorts. There are occasions, however, when a person prefers to perform certain grooming or beautification tasks at non-customary locations, such as at a patio table, dining room table or the like. For use on such occasions, or for traveling, a person may employ portable cosmetic case/mirror combinations which are available. However, such articles, often referred to as xe2x80x9ccompacts,xe2x80x9d usually contain a substantially small mirror, and have a minimal storage space for cosmetic preparations and/or implements. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have available a portable beauty accessory which has a reasonably large storage capacity for storing various cosmetic implements and preparations, and which has a reasonably large mirror suitable for use in grooming and applying cosmetics, but which is configurable to a relatively compact package for ease of carrying and storage. The unavailability of such an article was a motivation for the present invention.
An object of the present invention is to provide a combination carrying container for conveniently carrying and organizing personal grooming and beautification articles such as cosmetic implements including brushes, combs, lipsticks, eye makeup, applicator brushes, and the like, as well as cosmetic preparations such as lipsticks and eyeliners, and a face mirror which is adjustably attached to the container, enabling the container to be configured with the mirror adjusted to a low-profile position near an article storage area of the container, to facilitate carrying the container between various locations and storing the container when not in use, and reconfigured with the mirror in upper positions away from the article storage area for convenient viewing of the mirror during use.
Another object of the invention is to provide a cosmetic articles basket with an adjustably configurable handle and mirror which includes a basket provided with a plurality of storage compartments for carrying and organizing grooming articles and cosmetic preparations, and a handle bale which is attached at lower opposite ends thereof to the basket, the bale having an arcuately curved upper portion which serves the dual purpose of providing a convenient structure for grasping by a person""s hand for carrying the basket, and serving as a pivot axle for pivotable support of a mirror which may be orbited around the axis of the axle to any desired position in a 360 degree circle, and secured at the selected position.
Another object of the invention is to provide a combination face mirror/cosmetic accessory tote basket which includes a shallow basket section with generally vertical sides and which is partitioned into a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart, vertically oriented storage areas for storing and organizing cosmetic articles, an upstanding handle bale, and a face mirror pivotably mounted to an upper horizontal portion of the handle bale.
Another object of the invention is to provide a combination face mirror/cosmetic accessory tote basket which includes a circular or oval horizontal cross section basket in which are located a plurality of circumferentially arranged, vertically disposed article storage compartments, an upstanding handle bale removably attachable at opposite lower ends thereof to opposite sides of the basket, a yoke or cradle pivotably mounted by a friction bracket to an upper portion of the handle bale, the cradle being orbitable about the handle to a desired polar angle and secureable thereto by friction between the bracket and handle, and a mirror held between horizontally opposed ends of the cradle, and rotatable therewithin to a selected inclination angle relative to the cradle.
Various other objects and advantages of the present invention, and its most novel features, will become apparent to those skilled in the art by perusing the accompanying specification, drawings and claims.
It is to be understood that although the invention disclosed herein is fully capable of achieving the objects and providing the advantages described, the characteristics of the invention described herein are merely illustrative of the preferred embodiments. Accordingly, I do not intend that the scope of my exclusive rights and privileges in the invention be limited to details of the embodiments described. I do intend that equivalents, adaptations and modifications of the invention reasonably inferable from the description contained herein be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Briefly stated, the present invention comprehends a combination face mirror/cosmetic articles tote basket for carrying items customarily used in conjunction with personal grooming and beautification tasks, including implements such as combs, brushes, and other cosmetic articles and preparations. According to the invention, the basket has a flat bottom and curved vertical sides which together define a circular or oval cylindrical interior space. In a preferred embodiment, the interior space of the basket is divided into a plurality of adjacent article storage compartments by wire frame partitions, thus facilitating the organized storage of cosmetic articles and preparations into a desired order which facilitates their convenient access and use by a person.
According to the invention, the face mirror/cosmetic articles tote basket includes an inverted U-shaped handle bale which has a straight, horizontally disposed upper center portion, and a pair of opposed, horizontally inwardly protruding short end tangs which are releasably engageable with a pair of apertures in the sides of the basket, thus facilitating xe2x80x9cknocking downxe2x80x9d the basket for convenient packaging, storage and shipment.
The combination face mirror/article tote basket according to the present invention also includes a tubular friction swivel bracket which supports a mirror frame and which fits over the straight, horizontal upper center portion of the bale in frictional engagement therewith. The friction swivel is orbital around the handle bale to any desired polar angle, and secured thereat by friction between an inner elastic tube and the outer surface of the center portion of the handle bale. With this construction, the mirror/basket combination may be configured with the mirror within the mirror frame adjustably positionable to a pendent position below the upper horizontal portion of the handle, thereby facilitating grasping the upper portion of the handle for the purpose of carrying the basket. Also, the friction swivel is adjustably secureable at locations above the handle bale, enabling the mirror/basket combination to be reconfigured with the mirror positioned at higher elevations relative to the basket, when so desired by an individual using the mirror.
A preferred embodiment of a combination face mirror and cosmetic/articles tote basket according to the present invention includes a downwardly concave mirror frame support cradle or yoke which depends radially outwardly from the friction bracket and handle bale. In this embodiment, the mirror frame is pivotably supported within the cradle by a pair of horizontally disposed pivot pins located at opposed lower ends of the cradle, thus enabling the mirror to be pivoted to a desired inclination angle. The mirror of the combination mirror and accessory tote basket according to the present invention preferably has a circular or oval shape, and optionally may have two faces of different magnification powers, e.g., 5xc3x97 and 7xc3x97, or 1xc3x97 and 5xc3x97.